Nursing bottle and nipple therefor



Aug. 15, 1961 H. w. WITZ 2,996,207

NURSING BOTTLE AND NIPPLE THEREFOR Filed Nov. 10, 1958 IIII lllllllllllllll INvEN-roR HENRY W. WITZ.

Patented Aug. 15, 1961 ware Filed Nov. '10, 1958, Set. Nb. 773,086

, 1 Claim. (Cl. 2'15-1'1) This invention relates to improvements innipples for baby bottles and refers particularly to a flexible,resilient nipple so constructed as to provide a vent for the bottle whenthe bottle is in use to feed the baby, the vented portion of the nipplebeing protected from injury, when the nipple is inverted in the mouth ofthe bottle, for storage of the bottle.

The objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from theaccompanying drawing and following detailed description.

In the drawing,

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of my improved nipple positioned for use upona nursing bottle.

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the device shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view, similar to FIG. 3, showing thenipple inverted and a cap applied, for storage of the nipple-bottleassembly.

FIG. '5 is a perspective view of the improved nipple.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary detailed enlarged sectional view taken on line66 of FIG. 3.

Referring particularly to the drawing, 1 indicates the upper portion ofa conventional nursing bottle, having a neck portion 2 which terminatesin a mouth 3, the outer surface of the neck portion carrying screwthreads 4. A retaining ring is adapted to seat upon the upper edge ofthe neck 2, the ring having an annular flange 6, the inner surface ofwhich carries threads 7 which engage with the threads 4 to secure thering in seated position upon the bottle neck. The ring 5 also comprisesa top 8 which is provided with a central aperture 9, the portion of thetop adjacent the aperture being offset upwardly to provide an inwardlyextending flange 10. The ring 5 may be constructed of hard rubber, aplastic resinous material or the like.

The ring 5 is adapted to secure a flexible, resilient nipple 11 upon thebottle mouth, the nipple embodying the concepts of the presentinvention. The nipple 11 comprises a body portion 12, a bulbous headportion 13 integrally joined with the body, and an outwardly extendingflange portion 14 which is also integral with the body portion andextends radially outwardly from the bottom of the body portion, when thenipple is in its operative position.

When the nipple is assembled with ring 5 and bottle 1, the body portion12 of the nipple extends loosely through aperture 9 in the top 8 of thering and the flange 14 underlies the top 8 and rests upon the upper edgeof the bottle neck. An annular, triangularly sectioned rib 15 is carriedupon the under surface of the top 8 and when the ring 5 is screweddownwardly on the bottle neck, the flange 14 of the nipple is tightlysqueezed between the rib 15 and the upper edge of the bottle neck,thereby securely seating the nipple 11 upon the bottle mouth 3.

The dome portion of the bulbous head 13 is provided with apertures 16whereby the liquid baby food may be extracted by the infant from thebottle. The inner portion of the body portion 12 of the nipple ishollow, and an inwardly extending annular flange 17 is carried by theinner wall of said body portion. The hollow portion of the body,partially defined by the flange 17, is adapted to receive a conventionalnipple valve 18, which does not comprise, in itself, a portion of thepresent invention. There are many types of nipple valves known, and forpurposes of the present invention any suitable one may be used.Generally, the nipple valve 18, or any other type of nipple valve whichmay be used, is a check valve which permits the outflow of liquid babyfood from the bottle when the pressure within the bottle momentarilyexceeds the pressure within the bulbous portion 13 of the nipple, andcloses when the reverse pressure conditions exist.

As has been hereinbefore described, the body portion of the nippleextends loosely within the aperture 9 provided in the ring 5 therebyproviding an annular vent space 19. An annular shoulder 20 is carriedupon the outer surface of the body portion 12 of the nipple and saidshoulder bears upon the flange 10 of the ring top 8. The shoulder 20,however, is provided with a plurality of angularly spaced grooves 21whereby communication exists from the atmosphere to the annular space19.

When the ring 5 is screwed down upon the nipple flange 14, by virtue ofthe oifset'flange 10 upon the top of the ring, an annular space 22 isdefined above the nipple flange. The space 19 thus permits communicationbetween space 22 and the atmosphere.

An aperture 23 is provided in the thickness of the nipple flange 14 andthe material of the nipple at one end of the aperture is drawn to a tip24. It will be noted, particularly in FIG. 6, that the thickness ofthematerial defining the tip is relatively thin compared to thethickness of the flange and the tip extends outwardly from the base orbottom surface of the flange. The tip 24 is provided with a diametralslit 25' which affords communication, under predetermined conditions,between the interior of the bottle and the aperture 23. Thus, underpredetermined conditions the interior of the bottle is vented throughthe slit 25, the aperture 23, the spaces 22 and 19 and grooves 21 to theatmosphere.

Under normal conditions, that is, when the pressure within the bottleand the pressure within aperture 33 is the same, the resiliency of thematerial of the nipple will keep the slit 25 closed. If the pressurewithin the bottle exceeds the pressure within the aperture, as when thebottle is tilted to the infants feeding position, the lips of the tip 24defining the slit will close the slit tightly. However, when thepressure within the aperture 23 exceeds the pressure within the bottle,that is, after a quantity of liquid baby food has been withdrawn fromthe bottle by the infant and a partial vacuum is established therein,the slit 25 will open and thus vent the bottle to atmosphere.

When the nipple is not in use for the feeding of the baby, that is, forinstance, when it is stored in the refrigerator after sterilizing, thenipple 11 may be inverted on the mouth of the bottle. An imperforate cap26, comprising a dome-shaped closure 27 having an annular flange 28, maybe inserted in the opening 9 of the ring 5-. The flange 28 may bedisposed over the nipple flange 14 which is now disposed in invertedposition with the tip 24 extending upwardly. It can readily be seen, byreference to FIG. 4, that when the parts are in this position and thering 5 is screwed downwardly, the lower face of the cap flange 28 willbear directly upon the tip 24, thereby distorting the tip. Suchdistortion occurring over a period of time will tend to permanently setthe tip and it will be destroyed, being incapable of performing itsintended function when the nipple is in use.

As a feature of the present invention a bead 29 is formed integral withthe nipple flange 14, said head extending away from the surface of theflange in the same direction as the tip 24. The height of the bead fromthe flange surface is slightly in excess of the height of the screweddownwardly to move the cap flange 28 into contip from said surface and,hence, when the ring 5 is tact with the nipple flange, as shown in FIG.4, the lower face of the cap flange will contact the bead 29 and thusdistort the flange 14 downwardly, thecap flange pressure which wouldotherwise be sustained by the tip 24, now being sustained by the bead.Hence, the bottle 1 may be completely sealed and the tip 24 remainsuninjured.

As can readily be seen from FIG. 5, the bead traverses a large angle ofthe circumference of the nipple flange 14; the ends of the bead beingdisposed relatively closely on each side of the tip 24. Hence, the capflange 28 will bear substantially uniformly on the bead throughoutsubstantially the entire circumference of the nipple flange.

Many modifications of the present invention may be made by anyoneskilled in the art, without departing from the spirit of the invention.For instance, the bead 29, instead of being continuous between its endsadjacent tip 24, may be discontinuous, that is, may comprise a pluralityof angularly spaced arcuate segments. This and other obviousmodifications may be made and are broadly contemplated in the presentinvention. Hence, it is not intended that the invention be limited tothe exact details shown and described except as necessitated by theappended claim.

I claim as my invention:

A nursing bottle assembly comprising a nursing bottle and a nipplewherein the nipple may be stored within the confines of the nursingbottle, said assembly comprising a nursing bottle having a threaded neckdefining a mouth, a nipple comprising a hollow body portion, a hollowbulbous portion at one end of the body portion,

an annular shoulder carried on the outer surface of the body portion, aplurality of angularly spaced grooves provided in the shoulder, and aflange at the opposite end of the body portion, said nipple beingdisposed with the flange portion overlying the mouth of the bottle withthe bulbous portion extending into the bottle, said flange portion beingprovided with an aperture which extends through the thickness of theflange portion, an apertured bulbous tip forming a closure for theaperture in said flange, said bulbous tip extending away from the faceof the flange opposite to the body portion of the nipple, a singlearcuate bead carried by said face of the nipple flange and substantiallyin the center thereof, said bead traversing a circumferential line whichsubstantially includes said tip, the ends of the bead terminating aspaced distance short of the tip, the distance of the crest of the headfrom said face of the nipple flange being at least equal to the distanceof the crest of the tip from said nipple flange face, a cap having anannular flange disposed over said face of the nipple flange, and a ringthreadedly mounted upon said bottle neck and bearing upon said capflange to cause said cap flange to bear upon said bead and upon theportion of the nipple flange overlying the mouth of the bottle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,387,573 Ganson Oct. 23, 1945 2,426,927 Ganson Sept. 2, 1947 2,616,581Madsen et al Nov. 4, 1952 2,753,067 Rodriguez July 3, 1956

